Going broody in a hanging nesting box

[Foghornnmsprisy]

I have a year old RIR hen that has decided to go broody. Since I have a rooster and not many chickens, it's great. The only problem is that her nesting box is a few feet off the ground. And I'm concerned that the newborn chicks are going to flop right out of the nest. My question is can I successfully move her and the eggs to a lower nest? She never leaves it so she's pretty settled in.

 

[goodb]

Yes she can be moved. Best time to do it is at night and early in the incubation cycle. Lock her in the new nest for two days or she may try to get back to the original nest. Replace the eggs with fake ones so she doesn't break them if she protests. Keep them warm until she settles down and place them under her. Good luck!

 

[Foghornnmsprisy]

Ty for you're reply. I thought she was going to lay a dozen eggs and then try to set them. But she's sitting on them 24/7 since the first egg. I've kept track of her egg production. She's sitting on fifteen right now. My rooster is a complete jerkoff. Do you know if he will hurt the chicks when they hatch? He attacks us every single time I get close to the other chickens. Hes a pretty boy and that's the only thing keeping him out of a pot. Not really, but thats what I keep yelling at him from a distance.

 

[goodb]

Don't be alarmed but you now have a big issue. The eggs she is on are not going to hatch normally. Once a bird starts sitting on a fertilized egg it will start developing. If I'm reading it right, your issue is that you are going to have chicks hatching at different days as they started developing on different days. You have more than one laying because they stop laying when they sit on eggs. That is the primary reason they need isolated.

If the clutch gets to big, the earliest eggs may not develop or will take more than 21 days. In your case, isolate her tonight and don't let another in until she hatches; candle at day 10 and pull those that aren't developing. You're going to have a staggered hatch. Hope for the best.

As for the rooster, he'll be fine as long as you let him live. He's doing his job by protecting his girls and I suspect he'll be good to the chicks. A good momma will protect them, he WILL know to leave them alone.

 

[Foghornnmsprisy]

I figured I would have a weird hatch. I went thru the whole incubator thing last year. I thought about candling the eggs. But Mabel never has been friendly and has a real pissy look on her face when I get near her. It's just Mabel and Henretta laying brown eggs. Mabel won't leave her favorite nest and Henrietta is laying normally in the nest next to Mabel. My three Americans are getting ready to start laying. One already has, we found out yesterday. Surprise blue eggs! Plus I excepted four chicks last month before knowing what they were. Surprise of course they were broilers. So it's a little chicken crazy here. I just want to see chicks with a momma for once. I really don't want to go thru deformed chicks, fallen chicks or battered by rooster chicks.